Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
To build a barbecue
Yeah, barbecues in a moment. Can I rave about a product first? It’s Howard Restor-A-Finish, which claims you can make your furniture look good as new without going to the bother of stripping and refinishing.
With a simple wipe-on, wipe-off process, most finished wood surfaces that seem to need a refinishing job can be completely restored in a few minutes. White heat rings and water marks, sun fade, oxidation, smoke damage, and most other blemishes can be quickly eliminated.
Our poison dart frog tank sits in a custom-made black walnut cabinet — essentially a big aquarium stand with a canopy top. What was once a handsome piece of furniture has become dingy in recent years, with lots of scratches and water marks. With our recent move, a side panel got cracked, so I had a carpenter come out to give us an estimate on the repair. The carpenter recommended Howard Restor-A-Finish, and oh boy was that a useful tip. I’ve been wiping this stuff on many of our bathroom and kitchen cabinets (the last owners didn’t take good care of the wood) and this stuff is damn near miraculous. The acetone smell overpowers after a while . . . were it not for that, I’d have wiped down all of our wood. I’m looking forward to doing the dining room table, another piece of fine furniture which has seen better days.
BBQ foo below the fold . . .
Here she is, Lowe’s Super Pro Charcoal Grill. (Am I an unrepentant product whore tonight, or what?)
Now I am become Death, the destroyer of brisket.
If memory serves, we got a lot less barbecue for a lot more money back in Texas in the mid-90s. This baby has a cute smoke stack, a warming rack that doesn’t spring loose when you look at it sideways, heavy duty cast iron grills, and three little hooks for utensils. The coals sit in a sort of basin you can lift out for easy disposal. Our old Texas grill? I had to shovel that thing clean. What a pain.
The instructions recommended two people for assembly, but I couldn’t convince my son that this would be a fun project. Nevertheless, it was fun. Kind of. Challenging but not impossible, and the end result is a thing of beauty.
I made shrimp and teriyaki chicken shishkebabs for dinner, and tomorrow I’m going to make a brisket. I can’t eat beef, so I saved a couple of chicken kebabs for my dinner tomorrow night. It’s been a long time since I barbecued a nice brisket. Back then, I could eat beef. I wonder if I’m still intolerant? Trouble is, the reaction is so severe, I’m loath to test it out.
FOR TOMORROW: The New York Times reviews Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys, the Huffington Post’s Amitai Etzioni criticizes the review . . . and all the misogynists in America come out of the woodwork to howl at the moon. Stay tuned.
D.
Nice grill. It looks like a metal goat? Maybe?
That hanging utensil is the gruff, I take it?
I was looking at those the last time we were through Lowe’s, which would have been about a year and a bit ago. We have a smoker and a gas grill, but I’ve been lusting after a charcoal grille for some years now. Gas is fast and convenient, but it just doesn’t taste the same as charcoal.
Yeah, I’ve never minded the trade-off of increased mess for increased flavor. It’s a good barbecue, Dean, and if I could put it together anyone can. Still need to tighten the bolts a bit more, though.